Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1887-03-17
CAPTAIN EADS DEAD.


reported Death of Captain James b. Eads
One OF the Greatest Engineers of the Age
at Nassau, New Biograph
zeal Sketch of a Busy Life.
NEW YORK, March 1o-Captaln Jane.
B. Eads died at Nassau, New Providence
on the Sth instant, of pneumonia.
ST LOUIS March live have heard
nothing more than is contained in the
Associated Press Dispatch said Mr.
Esfill McHenry last night. THE telegram
Is Worded in such peculiar manner thai
we are inclined to b old on to hope unit
the news is confirmed. Captain Eads left
New York about the 9th of February for
Nassau. He was then suffering from a
severe cold which he had contracted q
few weeks before in Washington. He was
never a robust man about the chest. but
as he had withstood similar attacks
before, no danger was apprehended. His
wife and daughter, Mrs. Hazard,
sailed with him. The first news of his
dangerous illness was received in New
York by his private secretary on the Sth.
He received a letter by the regular Mas
sau steamer, which stated that Captain
Eads was dangerously i'll with congestion
OF the lungs. The gent eman telegraphed
the members of the family in this city and
said he would send particulars by mail.
''The Monticello sails from Jacksonville,
Fla, for Nassau every Wednesday. and 1t
would be impossible for the news to come
by the way of Jacksonville. The regular
New Y ork steamer is now on the way to
Nassau. and the Santiago steamer that
touches that point reached there on the
7th. 1t may have been carried to Cuba by
some private yacht or sailing vessel. and
then telegraphed here. That is the only
way ! can account for it.
'Although we have as yet received no
confirmation of the sad news, / am afraid
it is true. The telegram from his private
secretary announcing the serious illness,
followed by the bulletin, makes it very
probable that the result was as fore
Swallowed in the letter.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
James B. Eads was born IN Lawrenceburg,
Ind, May o. 1920, and his early education was
acquired in the schools of Louisville and Gin
cinnati. Before he had succeeded in mastering
the rudiments, however, his father experienced
reverses which necessitated his with
drawal from school. to which he
never returned At a very early age he
developed a taste for mechanics and a
fondness for experimenting with machinery,
which afterwards became the ruling passion of
his life. Among the anecdotes related of him
is one to the effect that when only nine years
old, having embarked on an Ohio river steam
boat, he exhibited such intelligent interest
in the engine that the engineer volunteered to
explain to him the details of its mechanism and
operation, finding in him an absorbed and quick
ly responsive pupil Four years later the boy
was able to construct a miniature working
steam engine without assistance. In Septem-
Der, 1888, when only thirteen years of age, he
arrived in ST. Louis. The steamboat on which
his father with his family had embarked to
seek home farther west. had burned, and the
destitute Ynnnp sold
On the street to contribute something to the
support of himself. After short time
he obtained position with a
firm, the senior partner of which.
Barrett Williams, discovered his mechanical
tastes, and gave him free access to his library.
After year or two he went on a steamboat as
a clerk, and remained two years, during which
period he obtained a valuable fund of informa-
ton concerning the river. In 1912 he entered
into partnership with Case s. Nelson, boat
builders, for the purpose of recovering steam
boats and cargoes which had been wrecked. At
first the operations of the firm were limited,
their machinery and appliances being
very primitive, and quite inadequate to the
work they undertook to perform. Such were
the energy, versatility and industry of Mr..
Eads however that the business rapidly ex-
banded. until in the space of about ten years
the firms property had increased to half a
million dollars in value. In the meantime Mr..
Eads had established factory at ST. Louis for
the manufacture of glassware. The business
did not prove remunerative and he returned to
the wrecllng business.
In 1856 he submitted to Congress a propo-
sition to keep the
WESTERN RIVERS OPEN
for a term Of years by removing all ohstruc-
tons and keeping the channel free. The bill
embodying his proposal passed the House, but
was defeated in the Senate. He retired from
active business in 1857 account of ILL
health During
against the levying of contributions on
Southern sympathizers and headed move
ment to raise a fund to take the place of that
which the military authorities had determined
to exact from the friends of the Confederacy
in ST. Louis Mr.. Eads received the contract
for building the first seven vessels of the Mis-
sissippi gunboat flotilla. From the close of the
war to the time of the construction of the great
ST. Louis bridge Mr.. Eads was engaged
in great public works. Up
on that bridge his fame as an
engineer was firmly established. The bridge
project was first conceived il 1859. Various
sites were selected for the bridge, and the pro-
iect met with varying features until Mr.. Eads
began to take an active interest in it in 1867
In that year he was elected Engineer-in- Chief
of the company then formed He at once
cured the services of Colonel Henry Flad, and
proceeded to de velope plans which were sub
sequently followed and the gigantic bridge con.
structed. 1t was completed aid opened in 1876.
In 1875 Mr.. EadS began the construction or
system of jetties for increasing the depth OF
the water at the mouth of the Mississippi under
contract with the Government. His plans when
proposed were secuted at first by prominent
engineers, but proved eminently successful.
He secured depth of water which allowed the
largest ocean vessels to sail in the river and
unload their cargoes at New Orleans.
HIS LATEST AND GREATEST PROJECT
was the building of ship railway across the
Isthmus of Panama. He endeavored for sew.
eral years to secure from Congress guarantee
of the bonds of his company, of which William
Window, of New York, is president. He was
unable to obtain this concession from the Gov
eminent, and at the session of Congress which
has just concluded, he asked that a charter and
the protection of the United States Govern
ment only be granted to his company. This
was refused
Mr.. Eads was married in 1915 to Martha N.
Dillon. daughter of Patrick NJ. Dillon. His
wife died in 1852. He was again married to his
present wife, Mrs. Eunice S. Eads He had
five daughter, three O. whom married, respect
McHenry, Assistant Postmaster at St. Louis.
and James J. How, of this city, Sec
rotary and treasurer of the Wa
bash Western Railway Company. He
was granted the degree of IL. D. by the Mis-
souri, State University. He was identified with
ST. Louis business from the time of his arrival
here as boy An avenue in the southwestern
portion of the city was named after him several
years ago. His last visit to the city was last
fall. He was not then unwell. but had not been
in robust health for several years.
General Newton's Latest.